Cold As Stone
by NanbeiNoHana
Summary: Standing there, in the town where he was born - it wasn't his home anymore.


**A/N:** I own all Naruto copyrights and, from now on, the shinobi will ride unicorns and throw flowers at each other. Live with that!

* * *

**Cold As Stone**

It was way past midnight when a dark-cloaked silhouette approached Konoha's walls and efortlessly jumped in. Since the last Shinobi World War, the village's walls have not been guarded as heavily as they should have. _Tch,_ the cloaked man thought with despisal. He had chosen an uninhabited part of the village as his entrance way, but soon realized he had made an unnecessary detour. He could have entered by the main gates blowing a horn and wouldn't have been stopped. During his long and lonesome travel to Konoha, he imagined every possible scenario, trying to be ready for whatever would be waiting for him. Maybe with a faint longing in the bottom of his black heart. But now, as he stood in the village where he was born, he knew it wasn't his home. While he roamed the streets, he took a glimpse of a man, alone, travel worn, in a mirror by a shop's wall. He felt cold as stone.

But he wasn't unaffected by the eerie, dark, empty streets of Konoha. All of a sudden, he was not his own. He felt a chill go through his bones - there was something wrong. Soon, he found a telephone booth. Without thinking - because, if he did, he wouldn't do it - he looked for a specific name in the phone book. He never found it. So, he picked up a random doctor's name in the yellow pages and dialed the number. The doctor was not at home. He left a message after the tone.

"I'm cold as stone."

* * *

_Emerald green_

The phone booth happened to be right in front of a lousy night club.

_Sapphire red_

The neon lights above his head stirred something inside his mind.

_Emerald green_

A pair of emerald green eyes appeared in his memories.

_Sapphire red_

Those shining eyes that he pushed away from his life, so many years ago.

_Emerald green_

He didn't find those eyes' owner's name in the phone book.

_Sapphire red_

Maybe his red Sharingan eyes made their job and scared her for good.

_Emerald green_

Or was she dead?

_Sapphire red_

No; it was impossible. He would have known it.

_Emerald green_

He was going to find her, no matter what.

_Sapphire red_

He left the booth, before those green and red neon lights drove him insane. He felt his heart grow cold.

Cold as stone.

* * *

He knew exactly the place where he should look for her. He went straight to the Konoha hospital. At the information desk, sat a very young woman - no, a _girl_ - reading some useless gossip magazine. He stood in front of her for almost a minute before she noticed a dark _thing_ in front of her. Looking up from the magazine, the girl froze under his ice cold onyx glare.

"I am looking for a medic called Haruno."

She blinked a few times, trying to gather some courage to speak. "I-I-I'm sor- sorry, sir. There is... no one with such name here."

The girl squealed in pure terror when his black eyes turned red and dangerously narrowed. "Is that so? Do you mean there is not a woman here with pink hair, green eyes and high medical skills?" He exhaled danger from all his pores.

The poor receptionist started shaking. "Yes, th-there is, but... but this woman is H-"

"Sasuke." He turned around at the interrupting voice. There she was, fully clad in a medic-nin outfit, holding some clipboards, and looking at him with nothing but a slight touch of curiosity.

"Sakura." Emerald green and sapphire red met in an intense look.

"What the hell are you doing here? What do you want?" Her voice felt like ice.

"It is good to see you too." He said sarcastically. Being in her late twenties, her face was still pretty much the same as he remembered. But there was something about her eyes that made him feel uneasy. "Is there any place where we can talk in private?"

"No. But, for the sake of our long gone times as a team, I will not kill you right away, even knowing that I should. I'll ask you again. What are you doing here and what do you want?"

He looked at the receptionist, but the girl had disappeared. He sighed. "I... I don't know. I just felt like coming here to check things out. But..."

"But you're not coming back. I know. We all gave up on you a long, long time ago." There was no hint of sadness in her voice. He allowed himself the selfishness of feeling forgotten, although he knew it was all his fault.

He tried to shorten the physical distance between them. "Sakura, why don't-"

Both her hands were glowing in a dangerous shade of blue chakra. "Stay. Away."

He flinched, ever so slightly, but she did notice it. She had always been so observant.

"What did you expect, huh? You're not my teammate. You're not my friend. You're not even an acquaintance anymore. You're just a traitor, a cold and selfish bastard, who doesn't know anything but ruining people's lives. I suggest you leave before I change my mind about not killing you."

In their early years, he would have thought it as a useless bravado, dismissing it without a thought. Now he knew she was dead serious.

"Hn. I'll leave. And you'll never see me again-"

"Hyuuga-sensei!" Some random voice rang from afar. "You're immediately needed in operation room 5!"

"I'm coming right away."

He gave her a puzzled look. _"Hyuuga-_sensei_?_ What the hell?"

She just smirked. "Farewell, Sasuke." Her voice had never felt so cold.

Cold as stone.

* * *

He sent a curse out in the night as he punched an innocent house inside his old abandoned Uchiha compound. His feet dragged him there without a notice. He wasn't sure why he was so angry - really, what did he expect? A 'welcome home' party? Hugs and tears of joy from Sakura? A friendly punch in the head from Naruto? Forgiveness from his village? He realized he didn't know how to answer Sakura's questions. He had no idea about whatever forced him into coming back to Konoha. But one thing he knew - he was leaving and never returning again.

Still travel worn, he knew it was time to go. Standing there, in the town where he was born, he was still sure it would never be his home again. Hanging in a dusty wall, a mirror saw him so alone...

Cold as stone.


End file.
